Valley Sports ReportATHENS — Freshman Aiden Briggs sparked an early run that put Athens in control as the Wildcats clinched a spot in the NTL Showdown with a 68-52 win over Wyalusing here Monday night in NTL boys basketball action.
Athens, now 14-7 and the Large School Division runner-up, will travel to take on Northeast Bradford (19-2), the Small School champ, Thursday in the semifinals of the NTL Showdown.
"It was a very important game tonight and our guys knew it," said Athens coach Jim Lister. "Winning was the only option if they wanted to move on to the next step, and they came out ready to play.
"I say it all the time, great defense fixes a lot of things," noted Lister. "Tonight, we played very good defense once again.
"I'm proud of them," added Lister. "It was another nice team win for the Wildcats."
Briggs pumped in 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the first quarter, while senior Nick Grazul and junior Lucas Schultz scored four points apiece and senior Noah Hobday knocked down a 3-pointer to fuel the Wildcats' game-opening 25-9 lead.
Senior James Friend scored four points in the second quarter, and Hobday canned another 3-pointer. Briggs' only points of the stanza were on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 38-22 lead heading into the halftime locker room.
Wyalusing used an 18-12 spurt in the third quarter to close gamp to 50-40, but Athens used an 18-12 advantage of its own int he final eight minutes to preserve the win.
Briggs led Athens with 20 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while Schultz scored 16, and Friend had 13 points.
"A big shout-out to our freshmen Aidan Briggs, who just continues to get better week in and week out," said Lister. "He's a perfect example of putting in the work. I am beyond proud of him."
Hobday added nine points on three 3-pointers in the win, and Grazul chipped in with four points.
Tyler Caplan led Wyalusing with 21 points.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens junior Lucas Schultz. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens senior Nick Grazul. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
